


Raspberries and the Ability to Tell Time

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/M, Family, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-21
Updated: 2015-10-21
Packaged: 2018-04-27 09:34:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5043187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It might have been too early to function but there was still something wonderful about the gleeful sounds of a happy child.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Raspberries and the Ability to Tell Time

Rafael ignored the covers moving. Maybe Liv was getting out of bed, he had no idea. He didn’t spend much time thinking about it as sleep was all he cared about. If no one was frantically waking him to tell him the condo was ablaze then things were just fine. No fire alarms, no worries.

“Barpa, Barpa.”

He opened his eyes at the sound of the little voice. Noah was on the floor, yanking on the blanket to wake him. Rafael couldn’t help but smirk.

“The time has come, young one.” He grumbled. “You’ve finally bested the crib prison.”

“Up.” Noah held his arms up.

Rafael leaned down to grab him. He turned from his side to his back, taking Noah with him. Once on the bed, Noah went over and grabbed his mother’s shoulder.

“Mommy!” he exclaimed.

“No niño, don’t wake mommy.”

“Too late.” Olivia opened her eyes. “Good morning, my sweet peanut.”

“He got out of the crib on his own.” Rafael was trying in vain to go back to sleep. It was Sunday morning and this was the only morning of the week where sleep could be a top priority.

“Did you escape the crib?” Olivia asked.

“Yeah.” Noah grinned as he nodded. He attempted to say good morning, putting his hands on his mother’s face and kissing her.

“I’ll get him a bottle.” Liv threw the covers back. “Maybe it’ll lull him back to sleep.”

“Mmm.” Rafael nodded, watching through half-lidded eyes as she got out of bed. He took Noah around the waist so he wouldn’t attempt to get out of bed too. “Do you know what time it is, buddy boy?”

“No.” Noah shook his head.

Rafael smiled, he loved to hear Noah talk. He didn’t do it very much but there were times when he went into a full toddler babble fest. This morning he seemed to do well with answering questions.

“Noah, we gotta work on teaching you to tell time. When you can tell time then you'll know that mommy and Barpa like to sleep in on Sunday morning. Speaking of that, what do you know about the days of the week?”

“Huh?” Noah looked at him.

“Huh? Huh?”

Rafael pulled him close, covering him in kisses and raspberries. Noah laughed wildly as his bare feet kicked into the air. His arms were also going crazy; Rafael made sure to avoid a black eye while continuing the love fest. It might have been too early to function but there was still something wonderful about the gleeful sounds of a happy child.

“You two are adorable.” Olivia walked back into the bedroom.

“Barpa.” Noah blew a raspberry on Rafael’s cheek.

“I think I'm gonna teach him how to really say my name.” he said when Liv got back in bed. She handed Noah the bottle and to the surprise of both of them, he snuggled up with Rafael. Her lover checked her face to make sure she didn’t feel betrayed. Propping up some pillows, Rafael figured he could hold onto Noah and possibly catch a few more winks.

“We can teach him to say Rafi. I think he could do it. He adores calling you Barpa though…it’s his special thing.”

She stared at the two of them. It was probably the most precious thing she’d ever seen. Usually in the morning Noah was on full tilt, raring to go. Right now he was resting against Rafael, content with his bottle. Rafael was somewhere between waking and sleep; he was stroking Noah’s hair. Unable to help herself, Liv grabbed her phone and took some pictures.

“Don’t do that.” He mumbled.

“I didn’t do anything.” She put her phone back.

“I sense a phone…I sense pictures.”

“I have no idea what you're talking about.” Liv shook her head.

“Mmm hmm.” Rafael opened one eye. “You're stealthy with that phone.”

“Go back to sleep.” She reached out to rustle Rafael’s bedhead.

“Is he OK?” he glanced down at Noah.

“I’ll look after him.”

“But then you won't get to sleep in.”

“Welcome to motherhood. We’re open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He mimics you sometimes so I'm hoping he’ll see you asleep and want to do the same.”

Rafael had no idea that Noah mimicked him. He was teaching him words and phrases of course, had recently taught him how to high-five…Trevor helped. Rafael couldn’t exactly dance but he could shake his hips so he taught Noah that as well. The idea that the little boy mimicked him was both awesome and terrifying. It was more awesome though.

“We’ll all cuddle together.” He held out his arms. “That way we can kinda keep an eye on Noah, know if he makes any moves for the door, but also doze off. And it gives me an excuse to hold onto you.”

Olivia smiled and moved over to share his pillow. Noah relaxed under Rafael’s arm while she held onto it. Her other arm moved across to rub her lover’s belly, also alerting her if she fell asleep and Noah decided to make a break for it. He wasn’t typically a runner. He most likely crawled out of the crib because he didn’t want to be alone. Now they were all in bed together and Noah seemed content. His mom was pretty happy too.

***


End file.
